The Nature of Photography

Hidden at the south-east shore of lake Balaton, in a 50-acre old-growth forest with 2km of beach front, lies the former government holiday resort of the communist party, the MSZMP holiday resort (Balatonaliga – Fürdotelep). In the late 1950s, General Secretary János Kádár had turned the public holiday resort into a strictly guarded, enclosed area, closed for common people. During the following decades, international communist politicians like Fidel Castro, Breschniew and Erich Honecker were hosted in Aliga. Since 1989, the coastal resort is lying in a deep sleep and nature has taken over the power.

The show documents this actual condition of transition: The reproduced wild nature slowly fades on the forest photographs found on the walls of the functionaries’ villas, while all around these images real nature is breaking through. Abstract fungal and ivy structures are growing all over the architecture accompanied harmonically by huge geometric spider nets stretched out in the air and expressionist patterns of mould illustrating walls and ceilings.

The long tradition of nature as a subject in interior design is overgrown by its own content. Decoration turns into reality.